Three named Alumni of the Year at St. Bonaventure University's annual Alumni Reunion Weekend

Jun 07, 2012 | ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — Three St. Bonaventure University graduates were named Alumni of the Year at the university’s annual Alumni Reunion Weekend, held June 1-3.

Paul H. Titus of the class of 1957, Patrick “Pat” Farenga of the class of 1952, and Jocelyn Thomas, a 1977 graduate, were presented the William “Stax” McCarthy Award. Named in memory of the former annual fund and alumni director, the award is presented annually to graduates whose continued service to the university reflects the spirit of St. Francis, St. Bonaventure and St. Clare.

After graduating from St. Bonaventure, Titus, a native of Bradford, Pa., earned his law degree from the University of Notre Dame. An attorney with Schnader, Harrison, Segel & Lewis of Pittsburgh, Pa., where he has spent his professional career, he handles a broad range of litigation in trial and appellate courts, especially complex business matters.

Titus served as a university trustee from 1988 to 1998 and was a long-standing member and chair of the Academic Affairs Committee. He is a former Trustees Division chair for the university’s Annual Fund, and has been a member of the esteemed Devereux Society of university donors since 1987. He served as a reunion class chair for this year’s Bonaventure Fund.

Titus was a committee member and major donor to the 1987-1992 Capital Campaign, and a donor to the university’s National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant.

He is a former member of the University Arts Council, and he and his wife, Bonnie, donated one of their paintings to the university’s permanent collection at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.

He and his wife have three children including a son, John, who graduated from St. Bonaventure in 1991.

A funeral director turned singer, Farenga, of Hartsdale, N.Y., once opened shows for headliners such as Alan King and Pat Cooper. He has often been commended for his service work in Hartsdale and around the world, and in 2004 was named a “Daily Point of Light” by President George Bush in recognition of his volunteer service to his community.

A lifetime member of the Kiwanis Club of Hartsdale, he was awarded the Kiwanis Pediatric Lyme Disease Foundation’s Brittany Fellowship award in 2009. He was named Bronx County’s Outstanding Citizen in 1974, and in 1981 was awarded a Congressional Medal of Merit and a certificate of gratitude from Boys Town of Italy for organizing relief efforts following a devastating earthquake in southern Italy.

Farenga has long supported his alma mater and is a member of the prestigious Seraphim Society of university donors. He is a volunteer for the university’s Office of Admissions and its Annual Fund campaign, a past committee member of the Metro New York Alumni Chapter, and has performed at university events.

Farenga and his wife, Kay, spend six months of the year at the Villas of Bonaventure in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and he is passionate in his efforts to connect “Bonaventure North” with “Bonaventure South.”

Since 2006, Thomas has been director of communications for the Franciscan FriarsHoly Name Province in New York City, the largest of seven provinces in the United States belonging to the Order of Friars Minor. In that role, she serves as the university’s liaison with the province, assisting with events and communication.

Prior to joining the province, she worked as a communications specialist for Ciba Pharmaceuticals (now Novartis) and for Embryon, a medical education agency.

Thomas is involved with the Parkinson’s Disease Unity Walk held in New York City each year. She has served as a director since 2000 and as secretary since 2001.

She served St. Bonaventure’s National Alumni Association Board for six years and is a member of the Metro New York Alumni Chapter, lending continual support for university events in the New York City area. She is a Career and Professional Services volunteer and helps St. Bonaventure students secure internships with Holy Name Province. A regular Bonaventure Fund donor, Thomas was also an event volunteer for the university’s 150th Anniversary Campaign.

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About the University: Inspired for more than 150 years by the Catholic Franciscan values of individual dignity, community inclusiveness, and service, St. Bonaventure University cultivates graduates who are confident and creative communicators, collaborative leaders and team members, and innovative problem solvers who are respectful of themselves, others, and the diverse world around them.